Dinner is a more restrained affair than is usual when they all sit down together, but it's still clearly exciting enough to exhaust Pete.
After finishing eating they return to the sitting area to play with the Duplo, but after half an hour Pete clambers his way into his father's lap.
'You tired?' Tony holds his scotch out to Steve so it doesn't get spilt. After the boy his settled against his chest he reclaims his glass.
'That's fucking adorable.'
'Clint! Language!' Steve scolds quietly.
'I'm telling you,' Clint shakes his head, 'release that image to the press and they won't have a bad thing to say about us all week.'
'Speaking of...' Steve mutters and fumbles to take a photo with his phone. He then gazes at it adoringly so Tony can be pretty sure his tech is proving itself.
'I am still drinking scotch,' Tony points out.
'You're a very long way from drunk,' Steve is looking at Pete adoringly.
'I wish I could fall asleep that quick,' Bruce smiles.
'He's asleep?' Tony glances down. 'Jay, what time is it?'
'It is quarter to seven, sir.'
'How much money have you spent on watches that you never look at?' Natasha shakes her head.
'Hah, don't answer that, Jay,' Tony swallows the last of his scotch. 'I'm going to put squirt to bed and see Pepper. I'll see you freeloaders around.'
'I'll see you tomorrow for breakfast?' Steve cuts in as Tony stands, being careful not to jolt his son.
Oh, right, he made Steve agree to make him breakfast all week.
'Sure,' he looks over to where Steve is giving him a look he can't decipher, 'sounds like a plan.'
'Good night, Tony,' Bruce calls.
Tony smiles and offers a sloppy salute to the group.
'Is Pepper in her room?' he asks as the lift starts moving up.
'Yes, sir.'
'Tell her I'm on the way up and that Pete's sleeping.'
'She is moving to greet your arrival,' Jarvis tells him.
The doors slide open and whatever Pepper may have been planning to say to him instead comes out as,
'Aww...'
Tony grins,
'Pepper, this is Peter Jarvis.'
'Oh, Tony,' she steps closer and touches a gentle hand to Pete's head, 'he's adorable.'
'Naturally,' Tony smirks, but feels his expression gentle as he looks at his son.
If they had only managed to get it to work between them...
'Jarvis showed me the picture he drew,' Pepper smiles, 'he's quite pleased with it.'
'Ah, leave it to my son to win over the most advanced AI in the world with a pencil drawing.'
'I stuck it to the fridge, it seemed appropriately cliché.'
Tony glances up to look and then notices the rest of the penthouse,
'Did you tidy up?'
There is a line of colourful boxes against the wall by the lift that weren't there before.
'Old habits,' she smiles at him. 'I know you, Tony.'
'You knew I'd buy several thousand dollars worth of toys and have nowhere to store them?'
'Yes,' she replies simply. 'I also had all of the clothes you bought stored in the third guest room for now and adjusted your schedule to skip the meeting in DC tomorrow.'
'That was tomorrow?' Tony wanders over to the wall to look at the boxes. 'Why am I not going to DC? I could have made it to DC. I have a jet.'
'And leave you son with someone?' Pepper does that thing where she's reminding him that neither of them are stupid. 'Or take him with you?'
'Good point,' Tony waves a hand. 'Make it a conference call; I'll sit in if I can and record it if I can't.'
'Alright,' Pepper agrees.
There's a pause where Pepper just smiles at him.
'I'll put him to bed,' Tony gestures to his room. 'Back in a few.'
It's easier than Tony ever would have guessed to brush the teeth of a nearly unresponsive three and a half year old and then wrestle him into a diaper and pyjamas. He could go straight back to Pepper, but he lingers to watch his son sleep.
'Making Ms Potts wait is unlikely to improve her mood,' Jarvis reminds him quietly.
'True,' Tony takes a breath and heads back out, 'alert me if he stirs, Jay.'
'Of course, sir.'
'You want a drink?' he calls to Pepper as he arrives back in the main room.
'No, thank you,' she sighs. 'Tony, let's just get to this; you need to tell Steve.'
'Why?' Tony rolls his eyes and pours a scotch. 'Really, Pep, what will he gain by knowing?'
'How would you feel if your positions were reversed? If you had a child that no one told you about?' Pepper scowls at him.
'Statistically that is quite likely,' Tony points out. 'The mother get's to make the choice if she doesn't want the father involved.'
'You think Steve wouldn't be a good father?'
'I think Steve has enough to be worrying about.'
There's a pause where Pepper looks sad and angry at the same time.
'Pep, it's not like we slept together and accidentally produced a baby. This isn't some unfortunate consequence that we both knew might happen; our DNA was stolen. Are you telling me you think it's ok to make a baby from someone and then expect them to deal with it? It isn't fair.'
'And you?' Pepper asks. 'You think it's fair to you?'
'I already have Pete,' Tony shrugs, 'another isn't Earth shattering. And I have money, and you, Rhodes and Jarvis.'
'You're dodging the question,' Pepper glares.
'Of course it's not fair,' Tony snaps, 'but I can deal with it. I am dealing with it.'
'Tony,' Pepper steps closer as he takes a large swallow of his scotch. 'Tony, you have to tell him.'
'Pep...'
'Tony, this is Steve we're talking about.'
'Yeah,' Tony nods, 'Steve; the guy raised to believe the only way to have a family is a man and a woman who love each other and are married. He's from the forties, Pep.'
'You know he'd 'do right' by Jim.'
'I don't want him to feel that he has to,' Tony gestures violently without spilling a drop of scotch. 'That's the point, Pep!'
'No,' Pepper scowls, 'Tony...'
'He's a damn virgin, Pepper!' Tony interrupts. 'He's been waiting for the perfect girl to come along and they'd get married and then have sex and then have All American babies and a dog or whatever. He wants that, Pepper. I can't take that from him.'
'This wasn't your fault, Tony.'
'No,' Tony agrees, 'but what happens now will be. Seriously, Pep, what would happen? Split custody? Jim spends the weeks in the penthouse and the weekends with Steve?'
'Well, you'd have to work it out between you.'
'He doesn't want this, Pepper.'
'You wouldn't have wanted this either, if I'd asked you a couple of days ago.'
'I can do this though,' Tony tells her, 'I have something of a support structure...'
'Not that you make that easy...' Pepper interrupts to complain.
'Steve doesn't know anyone outside of us and SHIELD.'
'Yes,' Pepper points at him, 'he lost everyone he knew and now you're going to keep his son from him.'
'I'm not going to keep them apart!' Tony slumps against the bar.
'You know it's not the same.'
'Really?' Tony grumbles. 'Why do people think that you care for someone more if you're related?'
'Tony, you aren't Howard, and Steve isn't Maria.'
Tony can't argue with that.
'Ok,' Pepper sighs, and pours herself some wine and tops off his scotch, 'I'll give you time to think about it.'
'I will,' Tony agrees quietly and allows himself to be towed to the sofa. Pepper curls herself against his side.
Tony has plenty enough brain power to be constantly over thinking this situation.
